| Princess Royal Maternity Hospital | |
| Org/Group: | NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde |
| Location: | Alexandra Parade, Glasgow, Scotland |
| Healthcare: | NHS Scotland |
| Type: | Specialist |
| Speciality: | Maternity |
| Founded: | 1834 |
| Map Type: | Scotland Glasgow |
| Coordinates: | 55.8651°N -4.2308°W |
The Princess Royal Maternity Hospital is a maternity hospital in Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded as the Glasgow Lying-in Hospital and Dispensary in 1834 in Greyfriars Wynd, just off the city's High Street.[1] It moved to St Andrew's Square in 1841, then to Rottenrow in 1860 and to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary site in 2001. It is managed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.[2]
The hospital was founded in Greyfriars Wynd as the Glasgow Lying-in Hospital and Dispensary in 1834.[3] Lying-in is an archaic term for childbirth (referring to the month-long bedrest prescribed for postpartum confinement). A dispensary was a place to receive medicine; see for context the Dispensary movement in Manchester.[4]
The hospital moved to St Andrew's Square in 1841 and to Rottenrow in 1860. New buildings were erected on the Rottenrow site in 1881.
A West End branch opened in St. Vincent Street in 1888, the same year that Murdoch Cameron performed the world's first modern Caesarean section.[5] An extension was added in 1908 and the title "Glasgow Royal Maternity and Women's Hospital" was granted in 1914. A clinical laboratory opened in 1926 and a nurses' home was opened in 1928.[6]
The West End branch closed in 1941 after it was damaged in an air raid[7] and a new out-patients department opened in 1955. The title "Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital" was adopted in 1960.
After the old building in Rottenrow had fallen into a state of disrepair, the hospital moved to a new building on the Glasgow Royal Infirmary site in October 2001.[8] The new facility was named the "Princess Royal Maternity Hospital".[9]
Meanwhile, the Rottenrow building was acquired and demolished by the University of Strathclyde.[10] The university re-opened the site as Rottenrow Gardens in October 2003.[11]